The alarm shattered the silence of the facility at 3 AM.
Alex was already on his feet, his senses stretched to their limit. The darkness inside him surged, responding to a threat he couldn't yet see. "Report!" he yelled, sprinting toward the command center.
Sebastian met him at the door, his face pale. "Perimeter breach. Multiple hostiles. They came through the eastern wall—took out the sensors and the guard post in under thirty seconds."
"Human? Alpha? Something else?"
Sebastian shook his head. "We don't know yet. But they're fast. Organized. They knew exactly where to hit us."
Alex grabbed his gear and ran. The eastern corridor was chaos. Smoke. Gunfire. The sharp crack of energy weapons.
He rounded the corner and saw them. Ten figures, clad in black tactical gear, moving with inhu
